A rule regulating driver detention could be shelved for the foreseeable future, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Policy Director Robert Miller said this week.
While a report on excessive driver detention time will be released in the spring, a rulemaking will not follow as FMCSA is expected to forgo extending regulations to shippers, reports JOC.com,
The federal government has been planning and assessing research on loading and unloading delays for drivers for many years.
The FAST Act directed FMCSA to issue regulations on collecting data on loading and unloading delays and to report the impact of those delays on the economy and efficiency of the transportation system.
However, FMCSA is not required to regulate driver detention times or shipper operations, according to Miller, and the agency is not planning any rulemaking on it.
Anne Ferro, FMCSA Administrator during the Obama administration, was focused on driver detention even after she left her post in 2014.
Improving productivity by reducing detention time and eliminating waste out of the logistics system is seen by the trucking industry as integral in relieving the driver shortage and making the supply chain more reliable and efficient.